Valparaiso closed out competition at the 2007 Mid-Continent Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., finishing the meet in fifth place. Philip Lohrmann (Battle Ground, Wash./Battle Ground [Clark C.C.]) and Brett Maynard (Pawcatuck, Conn./Stonington) each registered fourth-place finishes on the final day to lead the Crusaders.

Valpo totaled 55 points over the meet's three days for the fifth-place finish. Southern Utah took the team title with 269 points, with Oral Roberts finishing in second with 212 points. Western Illinois tallied 148 points for third place, followed by UMKC with 78 points. Oakland rounded out the field with 47 points.

Lohrmann put together a strong performance in the pole vault for the third consecutive week, clearing 14'3 ¼" Saturday for his fourth-place finish. Caleb Meyer (Seward, Neb./Seward) finished sixth in the same event with a personal-best mark of 13'3 ½".

Maynard came in fourth place in the javelin throw, recording a toss of 163'8". In the shot put, Steve Bartholomew (Valparaiso, Ind./Morgan Township) registered his third top-five finish in as many days, coming in fifth place with a mark of 45'4 ½". Eric Smith (Portage, Ind./Portage) registered a throw of 45'0 ½" for seventh, while Christopher Stohs (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission North) tallied a personal-best distance of 41'10 ½" for ninth place.

On the track, Jim Turchyn (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) and Rich Krupar III (Elyria, Ohio/Midview) each placed in the top-10 in the 1,500m run. Turchyn came home eighth with a Valpo season-best time of 4:02.01, while Krupar placed tenth with a time of 4:05.11. Krupar paced the Crusaders in the 800m run as well, finishing in 12th position, while Turchyn led the Valpo contingent in the 5,000m run with a 14th place showing.

Bartholomew will represent the Crusader men's track and field squad at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship on May 25-26. The junior qualified for regionals in the hammer throw with his school-record toss of 191'2" at the Puma Invitational on April 21.